Two Love

Chapter 7

It was a cool autumn day; change was in the air, with red and yellow and orange leaves falling all around like a duvet putting the grass to sleep for the winter. Chilly winds blew through the branches and robins appeared on garden fences to sing a cheery tune. 

It was always a surprise to people when Marty told them that his favourite season was autumn; surely he was the kind of person who lived for summer and the long school holiday it promised. But autumn surpassed summer in one important way - it had Halloween. And Halloween meant sweets, tricks and dressing up - three of Marty's favourite things!

"What are you dressing up as for Halloween?" said Marty as soon as he met Hassan by the gates.

Hassan avoided his friend's eyes. "I'm not dressing up this year, Marty. I'm sorry, it just feels like I'm too old for it now."

Marty was undeterred - surely Hassan could be persuaded. "Too old? Why, you can never be too old to have fun! You can go as a pumpkin - like you did last time - and your sister as a witch-"

"-my sister isn't going trick-or-treating either. You could go with Ali if you wanted?"

A frown settled on Marty's face. As much as he loved Hassan's cheeky monkey of a little brother, he would rather hang out with kids his own age.

"Maybe. I'll ask Everett if he wants to come too."

As it turned out, Everett did not want to come, and neither did Jade. His hopes for trick-or-treating were retreating rapidly - then he saw Lucy in Biology.

He ran over to her and blurted out: "Hey, Lucy, I was wondering -" 

"Here's your invitation... and here's yours..."

Marty scrutinised the orange-and-black piece of paper that had been placed in his hand. The font was flamboyant and the orange came from a clipart image of a pumpkin. Cartoon bats were hanging out in the corners. The top of the paper read:

You're invited to a Halloween Party at Lucy's house! 

Instantly, Marty found himself beaming from head to toe. His crush was hosting a party and inviting him to it! And it was themed on his favourite holiday of the year! Already, he had some ideas for a costume this year: he could be a blood-sucking vampire, or a bedsheet ghost like last year, or he could make a bat costume using Mum's old black umbrella and some paper ears -

"Hey, earth to Marty! Class is over," said Lucy, and Marty looked around to see that all the other Biology classmates had vacated their seats and were now rushing to and fro in the crowded corridor. Usually, he was the first to leave a classroom.

"Oh, right! Sorry. Got distracted thinking about the party. You know, the one you invited me to."

Lucy smiled. "Of course. I've heard you get really into Halloween each year with costumes?"

He grinned - finally, someone else who thought that costumes were cool! "Yeah, that's right. Hey, Lucy, I was thinking -" he took a breath, amazed at his sudden burst of bravery - "do you wanna hang out with me at the party? Like, as my date?"

Lucy peered up from her freshly painted pink nails. "Yeah, sure."

Marty couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the day.

*

When Marty turned up to Lucy's (with Mum driving their four-year-old Ford Fiesta), he was stunned by the sheer size of her house. It was like a mansion. Metal gates with a brick arch prefaced the house's double doors; the front garden was filled with oak and cypress trees; the house seemed to be four storeys high. He could already envision him and Lucy dancing around the halls like Phineas and Charity in The Greatest Showman, with six children running around playing hide and seek (or, if they took after Marty, playing pranks on each other).